Fates Intertwined, Unwinded, Unthreaded, and Rebound
by Zahira Raja
Summary: Kurama isn't a good guy. But everyone has their faults. Naruto Uzumaki is a stupid 16 year old with brain damage, ADHD, and the most horrendous chakra control in the Nations. But maybe, if given one chance, just one, they can make each other better. When Naruto is five years old, Kami gives him that chance. To start over and change Fate's plan. She never liked that bitch, anyway.
1. Preface

Naruto Uzumaki had been a lot of things in his life. Alone. Scared. Terrifed. Angry. Hurt.

But he'd never been confident or powerful.

That was about to change.

….

At Two am Higarashi Tenshi stumbled down the red light district, dead drunk, half hysterical, and completely out of it. In his left hand is a bottle, his right is empty because he's been suckered out of all his money already. In the back of his mind, he knows his daughter would say serves him right, leaving her alone to get piss drunk, but he can't bring it in himself to care.

_I'll take a short cut,_ he thinks to himself, _Yeah and then I'll be home in time to tuck Ten in._

He stumbles into an alley way, dragging his feet, to drunk to notice it's a dead end, and too drunk to care. The bottle slips from his hand but doesn't shatter, merely clinks dully against the grimy alley way. He doesn't notice. When he reaches the dead end, he touches the wall in something like amazement. "This isn't where I live," he slurs drunkenly. He turns around and stumbles out of the alley way, dead drunk, half hysterical, and completely unaware of the millions of fates he's just changed, intertwined, unwinded, strengthened, and destroyed.

Completely unaware of the life he saves.

Kami only knows, and she smiles faintly as her eyes track the progress of Uzumaki Naruto, leading him gently to the same alleyway. Leading him gently, to a new and brighter fate than the one she first witnessed.


	2. Chapter 1

Naruto fled down an alley way pushing himself to go father and faster on his small legs. He did not want to be caught. NO, not this time. The surging mob followed him, raising their instruments of death in the air, and yelling threats at him. He ignored them and tried to focus. One wrong move and he was literally dead this time.

If there were things Naruto Uzumaki was, it was nimble, fast, and sneaky.

If there was something the villagers were it was slow, not very bright, but very tenacious and very determined to end his continued existence.

Naruto was very hyper aware of this, thus _why_ he was so nimble and fast. It was a cycle of evolution. The more tenacious the villagers got, the faster Naruto discovered he could run.

But it was a small act of fate that lays our story. Naruto, in his haste to_ get away –oh god let him get away-_ didn't notice the beer bottle in his path until he was already tumbling to the ground and oh god that hurt. He thinks he broke something on the way done and for a moment is absolutely blindsided by the pain of having his arm crushed underneath him.

Then, his brain kickstarts, like really_ kickstarts,_ and God, just a day in Naruto's head would show just how ADHD addled he truly is. His heart is testing the bounds, wondering how fast it had to beat before it literally broke free of his chest and his hands are suddenly clammy and his body is suddenly flushed with a cold sweat because Kami-damnit he's going to get caught and he's going to die because some stupid lame brain _drunk_ dropped one _fucking_ bottle, and Jesus- Old man Ichiraku will never see him again and maybe Ayame will cry but that'll be alright cause they'll forget about him someday like everyone eventually does and –Damn he was looking forward to joining the academy but he guessed that'd never happen cause he's about to be killed. Slain. Murdered. Dispatched. Executed. Sent floating down the river with a cement casing around his feet –and he should really stop watching those mafia movies –and oh God they're almost here!

Suddenly a voice breaks through. Breaks through his ADHD riddled mind with startling clarity.

**Finally,** something growled –and oh my God he's going crazy isn't he. He just knows he is cause there's a fucking _voice_ talking in his _head._

**Kit, focus.** Growls the voice. **You have no idea how long it took to break through. Now listen. Do you see** **that wall? Walk over to it.**

-And Naruto is suddenly hit with the need to _obey_ and he's on his feet before he can even properly freak out about the fact there's a_ fucking voice_ in his head.

**Focus,** growls the voice again. **And you know a surprising amount of curse words for a five year old.**

Naruto honest to god almost rolled his eyes, because _of course_ he knows a lot of curse words when they're being thrown and spit in his general direction nearly every – and he suddenly remembers that he has villagers on his heel that want to kill him.

He scrambles over to the wall and mentally rolls his eyes because _of course_ the one alley way he turns down his a dead end and that stupid beer bottle didn't really mean anything. (But of course he's wrong and he'll never know. He'll never know that it was the panic of tripping over that bottle and realizing he's going to die that let the Kyuubi break through and save his life. And he'll never know because Kyuubi will never tell him. And if a single father with a nasty drinking problem suddenly comes into some money –Well that's really nobody's business.)

[And of course neither of them will know that it was this beating, on this night, is what caused Naruto to be so brain addled. The villagers literally beat the knowledge out him, inflicting a brain injury that would have been critical if not for Kyuubi. Instead it had become a detriment to his learning ability worse than the ADHD, which certainly did not help. And only Kami-sama would know how that universe would work out. For now, neither of them suspected a thing. And if a little girl with a terrible drunk as a father suddenly had impeccable accuracy with weapons and inspired her father to open up a weapons shop –Well that's really nobody's business.]

The wall is damp and has garbage cluttered around it and Naruto has to move it over with his foot to get a good standing next to the wall.

_Now what?_ He thought

**I am going to regulate your chakra, put your feet on the wall and walk up**. The voice commanded.

And didn't _that_ sound insane? Walk up a wall? Please, in his dreams – but then Naruto remembered that ninja in his village did it all the time.

"Look! He's over there!" a sudden shout breaks him out of contemplation as one of the villagers catches the dim outline of him. And he puts his trust in the voice because he doesn't really have any other choice even though he thinks he's half-way to insanity.

_What's that saying again? It's ok to talk to yourself but if the voice talks back then you're fucked._

A rumbling laugh answered his thoughts. **Considering I talked to you first I don't think that's legit in this situation. Now, focus and walk the damn wall.**

And Naruto does because –hey if you're halfway through hell, keep going and he's surprised when his feet stick to the surface and he starts wall-walking, like fucking wall-walking like it's an every day event –and how cool would _that be?_ To be a motherfucking wall walker. Naruto almost smirked. That's right, Naruto Uzumaki, wallrider bitch.

Once over the wall Naruto sinks to the ground for a minute to catch his breath and reprimand his heart for beating to fast and scold his limbs for shaking so much. But after that he's gone and by the time anyone sees that shocking head of blonde hair again, Naruto's locking the door of his apartment complex, safe, off-limits, and guarded by anbu.

**So hah,** crows the Kyuubi in triumph, **Suck on that bitches.**


	3. Chapter 2

…**..**

The next time Kyuubi talks to Naruto he has no god damn idea of what's going on and he _still _doesn't know it's kyuubi despite words like "demon fox" and "damn demon" being casually hurled in his direction with excess venom. Why? Because he _still_ isn't in the academy because Jiji is a god damn traitor –but that's a whole nother issue entirely. Point: Because he's not in the academy he has no idea that a massive, malice consumed demon fox almost destroyed his home the day he was born.

Kyuubi is almost insulted. Because –c'mon who _didn't _know Kyuubi? Who _didn't_ fear his very name. But, again, a whole 'nother story entirely.

Point is; Kyuubi's sudden presence one day completely blindsides Naruto who –three months after the attack –has completely forgotten the fact he has a _voice_ in his fucking head.

Honestly, he almost had a heart attack he was just out and about in the village, something he really shouldn't be because –damn-it they're trying to kill him but, hey, a guy has needs, so he tries not to think too hard about the fact that the lady selling him oranges was chasing him down with a mase three days ago. He really, really isn't thinking about it. Really. Honest. Or at least he's trying not to. And that's good enough for him.

Anway he was strolling down like he owned the block because that's the only way he really knows _how_ to walk, because he learned to walk from his Jiji who _did_ pretty much own the village and then he was shoved to the ground by a kid three times his age with a hitai-tae and a vest that screams "I am a chunnin, bitch!". He scraps his arm against the hard dirt and his skin rips open and it's hardly the worst injury he's gotten but it's like a papercut –surprisingly painful and completely unexpected. He looks up at the kid –no those are not tears in his eyes goddamit it. He is not crying. It was the dirt. The dirt damnit. –who's just smirking at him before he turns and walks away and suddenly the voice is _there. Just there._

**Hmm, I remember that one. **The voice says casually. **A total coward. I spared his life out of pity. Maybe I should have killed him instead.**

-And holy shit what the hell was that!?

And Naruto's decided not to panic because if he begins to panic he will really freak the _fuck_ out and having a panic attack in the middle of the village with the villagers that aspired to killing him was _really_ not a good idea.

So instead he holds his breath for a ten count and tells himself mentally to _Not freak the fuck out so help me God._

He pretends the voice isn't there even though he can feel the pressure of it's presence at the back of his mind. No, instead he stands, dusts himself off and smiles the brightest he can because he _knew_ that pissed the villagers off like nothing's business.

And then he runs home. Well, not home, because god forbid anyone gave the _monster _the _demon_ a home. No, he runs to the run down debilitated apartment that doesn't have hot water, or heat, and has faulty electricity. The apartment that is certainly not home.

Once there he closes the door behind him, slides down, and _then _he freaks the fuck out in a manner that he's honestly surprised isn't more flailing panic.

So, he thinks calmly, I'm crazy now. God to know.

And he thinks he's doing fine with that little revelation until suddenly he grabs a stray kunai and hurls it at a ragidy glass vase he got for a present. It shatters and he's not even thinking about how the old man will notice he no longer has his Christmas present –No, he's thinking about other things he can throw, things he can destroy, and what he can shred to absolute bits.

The sheets he has, the scratchy, impossible, blood stained sheets are now on the table and number 2 on the list behind the bookshelf he has –But then suddenly, it's back.

**Kit, calm down, Kit. **The voice soothes, **you're not crazy I swear. Just let me explain.**

Naruto realizes he's frozen but his everything is shaken. He didn't even notice when he got to his feet or how he'd crossed the room, but he slides down next to his mattress and tries to breath. The breaths are shaky and raspy and raggedy but steady.

He swallows and it goes down like a stone in his mouth but he nods and let's the voice explain.

**They call me Kyuubi, brat, but you can call me Kurama. Around six years ago, there was an unfortunate circumstance….**

And Naruto listens as the fox spins out a tale of what others in his village call the Great Kyuubi Attack. Kurama doesn't mince words, and he doesn't paint himself in a better light for his benefit. He tells it like it is and Naruto listens to the fox even as the sun dwindles down to a gold glow cast over the village with a twinkle in the horizon.

When's it's all over and Naruto's heard about all the death, destruction, heartbreak, and agony his village went through, with his parents as the main stars, he doesn't ask why the fox did it. He knows. He doesn't ask if the fox regrets it. He knows. He doesn't ask if the fox has kept count and carries the lives he slayed on his back everyday. He knows. Instead he asks the most selfish question in all of history.

"Did they love me?" he asks. He's been heralded with Kurama's side of the events. His father's great sacrifice, his mother's sacrifice, even what they told him from what Kurama could hear, but he just can't bring himself to _believe_ it. God, how pathetic is that? After years of abuse he hears the thing he wanted to most and he _can't believe it._

**That Kushina loved you with everything she had, Kit. I could literally feel the moment she found out she was having you. The bursting emotion of joy and love and happiness made my cage uncomfortably bright.**

Naruto's eyes water because, this is the Kyuubi being kind. He's grumbling, acting like everything was a chore, but he's telling Naruto, reassuring him, that yes, he did have a family, and yes, they loved him more than life apparently.

So in return, Naruto tells Kurama the words the fox had wanted to hear for years. He tells them, and they aren't even lies either.

"Okay," he says, voice shaky, "Then I forgive you,"

He hears the fox gasp lowly and sharply like that wasn't what he was expecting at all. No he was expecting hatred but he should have known better, that was the one thing Naruto could never give.

"But," Naruto begins and he knows Kurama is thinking 'Here comes it. Here comes the blackmail, the 'in return'' It isn't."You have to do me a favor, forgive yourself. Do what you need to do, to forgive yourself."

Kyuubi the Demon Fox is a mass of pure chakra and hatred. It doesn't care about the lives of humans and it has killed many without so much as a blink.

Kurama, Naruto's friend, has killed too many, felt too much, had to much taken away, and feels it deeper than should be possible or healthy. Kurama, Naruto's friend, deserves to be happy.

It takes Kurama a moment to reel himself in, but when he does his voice is a steel, no argument, no nonsense kind of voice that says he's going to lay down the law and Naruto will follow it.

**Okay, **says the fox slowly, **Then, in order to forgive myself, let me train you. Let me teach you, so I feel that I have made up my debt to your parents.**

(Secretly Kurama knows it's too little too late, Naruto's suffered to much for him to ever make it up fully. But, he won't tell the kit that. No he won't. Maybe if he doesn't, if he doesn't, and he goes through and helps the kit, Naruto will make him feel like he has)

Naruto's lips tilt up in a smile and he nods.

"Of course,"


End file.
